​Do you ever have voices in your head that tell you to do two different things? One may say, go for it! You can make the career change, get into a new relationship or take that trip that you’ve always wanted to. While other voices hold you back.

How do you know which voices to listen to? Which ones are giving you the advice you need to hear? To find out, you need to ask the right questions. Your brain is such that when you ask a question, it searches for an answer. Ask a different question and you get a new answer.

Because we are most aware of our more critical voices, let’s find out more about them. Think of the loudest and most critical voices in you that you need to accept. The ones that tell you that you’re not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, rich enough, etc.

Chose one of your critical voices. Now, we’re going to ask that critical part of us some questions.

When were you formed?

What was going on that caused you to develop this voice?

What is it that you are trying to protect me from?

Is there something you need that I’m not giving you?

Who’s voice do you represent?

How can I make you feel included in this process of….losing weight, getting more business, working on my book, etc.

When we take a closer look at our critical voices, we can make them friends and a part of the healing process. For more info, please come to our next advanced workshop on June 13 at 6:15pm. RSVP 613-761-1600

At the gym that I belong to, our training sessions are usually divided into different parts: warm up, structural, strength and cardio. This is to ensure that we development our bodies in a certain way. Since, my body is used to operating this way, I decided to attack my to-do list in the same manner. I break up my tasks into 1 hour chunks as follows: preparation, vision, structure and action. Depending on the task or action steps required, the preparation, vision and structure phases can be shorter or longer.

Preparation involves getting ready for the task. This is similar to the warm up before you exercise. At the gym, we start with light jogging. When working, it could mean getting settled at your computer and ready to start, turning off distractions like your cellphone, social media, gathering the equipment you will need, etc.

Next is vision. I remind myself of my goals. How will this task bring me closer to my vision for what I want for my life? If it’s work for a file for one of my patients, I connect with my desire to help people. One of the key phrases that gets me focused is: everyone you take care of makes a difference in the world. This allows me to see the big picture.

Keep your end goal for what you want to create for your life in the foreground of your mind. You want to do things that will move you towards your goals. This can take just a few seconds if you know your goals.

Structure. Figure out the order of action steps you need to take to complete your task. Break it down so that you can complete a part of it during your hour. If your task is to write a book. You will not complete it in an hour. Figure out how many pages you can get through.

Now it’s time to do. Do your task. Take action.

After 60 mins, take a break. Give yourself a pat on the back and celebrate. You are one step closer to your goals. If you’ve been in front of your computer for the past hour, move and stretch.

Got more time? Repeat the process agian.

For more information on goal setting, come to our complimentary advanced workshops.

Ever wonder why you respond to a situation in a certain way and how someone else can have the same experience and react completely different? This occurs because of our pre-programming and we all have it, even if we aren’t aware of it it. We filter events in our lives through our past experiences, emotions and perceptions handed down by our parents, grandparents or others close to us.

Some common programs running in our unconscious backgrounds tend to be: money doesn’t grow on trees, you need to go to school, get a good education and then a good job, parents are always right, don’t argue with your elders, you need to follow the rules, etc. There are also certain rules indicate that you are good or bad, etc. You are good if you finish all your homework, bad if you don’t eat all of your dinner.

Today, we examine the program of an authoritative figure being always right. Our parents tell us what to do and to do as they say when we are young. When we go to school, we’re told to do what the teacher says and then what our boss says and then what the government/expert/doctor says. Our nervous systems are conditioned to respond to authoritative figures in that if we do what we’re told, we’re good and if not, we’re bad.

If we’re not aware of this programming, we may find ourselves doing things just because someone told us to and not really examining if it’s what is right for us in this moment. We may say yes to taking on more work, or to withholding our voice, or we may even hold our ideas in and not express them.

So how do we change the program? The first step is to be aware. Notice the next time you interact with someone who you perceive to have authority over you. What are your thoughts? What are you behaviours? Are you more likely to say yes to a request? Are you more shy? What’s your body language?

To find out more about your patterns and how they affect your life, come to one of our advanced workshops.

For most of us, it’s hard to step out of our daily lives and routines to pause and reflect on what and who are really important to us in life.

About 2 weeks ago, after finishing a busy day at the office and while I was eating dinner and listening to a webinar, my world suddenly came to a standstill. I had received the terrible news. My friend Blake had an accident and was no longer with us. I was in shock. I could not believe the messages I was receiving from my friends. It could not be true. I had to hear from 3 different people before it started to sink in.

We belong to a community at our gym and we call ourselves the 6am crew. Every morning, these wonderful and often crazy people get together to work out and push each other further than we think we can go...and now, one of us is gone.

Blake was always positive, smiling and committed to getting better each day. I remember one day when I was running warm-up laps behind him, I dared him to leap over boxes in the middle of the gym. His timing was off and he crashed right into them. On his very next lap, he did the jump again and was successful….all the while laughing and smiling.

Blake was very dedicated, often coming 5 days a week. That fateful morning, I had a fleeting thought as to where Blake and Margaux were. I figured that they had gone hiking together over the weekend and were too sore to come in. I even made a mental note to poke fun at Blake when I saw him next. I didn’t know at the time that it wasn’t because he didn’t want to be there, it was because he couldn’t.

The world recently lost a great person. He celebrated life, did the things that he was passionate about and inspired many people along the way. By reading this blog, may he further live on by gifting you the gift of remembering to laugh often, smile lots and to tell people that you love how much you care for them each day.

Thank you “B” for teaching us so much. We miss you! We will look after Margaux and will continue to make her lift more weights...Henry too.

To the 6am crew and coaches: I am so grateful to have you in my life! Except Maria...I’m only sometimes grateful for you...it’s workout dependent. Christine: you are amazing! See you tomorrow.

Normally, you body’s immune system protects you when you get sick. However, if you have an autoimmune disease, you body starts to attack your body’s healthy cells. In my practice I see a lot of people who have an autoimmune disease and here are some emotional and mental thought patterns that I’ve observed in them.

Working with people who have autoimmune diseases holds a deeper meaning for me as I understand first hand what it’s like… I spent the majority of my childhood and early adulthood being extremely shy. Throughout my schooling, I had never once raised my hand in class to answer a question. I hardly ever spoke up, contributed my voice to conversations or even defended myself and was terrified of public speaking. Later on, I developed Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune disorder affecting the thyroid (located in the throat area). This was a wake up call, and I looked at it as an opportunity to change my life.

Emotional and mental patterns often observed in people with autoimmune diseases:

there is a relationship challenge within themselves

what is your relationship between you and yourself?

are you hard on yourself?

do you beat yourself up?

do you fully embrace your imperfections and faults?

are you ever good enough?

if your body is attacking yourself, are you?

they use vocabulary that takes ownership of the disease

“my Hashimoto’s, my MS, my Lupus etc”. This is important because it is not yours and you can get rid of it

it is ok to talk about it, but don’t make it yours. You are not your diagnosis.

When you say it’s my car, my house, my kids, you are claiming that it is yours. Same with when you say it’s my disease. If it’s not yours, you can give it away.

ignore it or wish it would go away

instead, say hello to it

you’ve spent so much time hating it, pushing it away and you have strong reactions to it, so it wants to push you back

the pain, symptom is here for a reason and it can’t be ignored

take a minute to be with it, ask it why it’s here.

It is about a relationship with you and your body. Pay attention to how you feel about your symptoms or your diagnosis. How have they affected your life? What are your beliefs around the diagnosis? What are your beliefs about yourself around the diagnosis (worthless, scared, etc). What did your doctor tell you about your diagnosis? Do your symptoms baffle them? Does it run in your family and do you feel doomed to have it? ​For more help in talking to your body, give us a call.

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